finalfantasyfandomcom-20200222-history
Festival of the Hunt
The Festival of the Hunt is an annual competition hosted by the church in the Business District of Lindblum in Final Fantasy IX. It began centuries prior when the city was but a huge forest. The festival is held on January 20th. Warriors from around Gaia are called upon to test their strength against ferocious beasts. Various creatures are released onto the streets of Lindblum, and can be defeated, each for a certain amount of points. The hunt lasts twelve minutes and whoever has the most points at the end wins the title of Master Hunter. Story Vivi is initially interested in the competition because a girl in a shop inadvertently gives him the false impression that he will be seeing animals, not battling creatures to the death. It is assumed that he finds out the truth, as he is frightened when he discovers that Zidane has signed him up for the competition, thinking he would do well with his black magic. Freya calls Zidane's actions "inconsiderate". Steiner has a general disdain for Zidane and both he and Garnet end up cheering on Vivi during the competition. Zidane raises the stakes with betting that the victor can go on a date with Garnet, a prospect in which Vivi has no interest. Freya is a regular at the competition, and hopes to encounter Sir Fratley, her lost love, should he choose to test his prowess. Zidane enters for his typical reasons: to show off in front of Garnet and win the prize money. Although Zidane, Vivi, and Freya all participate in the hunt, they fight independently unless they run into a Zaghnol, in which case Zidane and Freya join forces to defeat it, the strongest beast the competition, and save two children from its fury. After the rewards are given out, the celebrations are cut short as a messenger arrives with news of Alexandria's invasion of Burmecia. The hunt The player partakes as Zidane, and can keep track of the high score displayed at the top of the screen whenever someone surpasses the previous high score. Despite there being many participants whose names can be spotted on the high score, with the exception of Vivi, Freya, and Zidane, they can never be met nor can they be the winner. Unlike elsewhere in the game, enemies appear on the field and battles are initiated upon coming into contact with them. The results screen is not displayed at the end of the battles and no EXP or other spoils are gained. Participants There are at least nine participants in the tournament (unused text refers to Vivi as "Hunter No. 2", Zidane as "Hunter No. 4", and Freya as "Hunter No. 9"), and there are eight named participants who have a chance of taking the lead. Three of them are in the player's party (Zidane, Vivi, and Freya), and when any of them wins the player earns a prize. There are five other participants: Lani, The Strange Gourmand (Quina), Belna, Genero, and Ivan. Belna is the previous hunt's champion. An Attendant will comment about the character currently in the lead: Points After killing a monster, Zidane scores points, which range for every battle; Mus have the lowest maximums, Trick Sparrows' amounts are slightly better, and Fangs give the most points. However, the Trick Sparrow in the first area of the Theater District generally gives only 1–3 points. For the unique battle against the Zaghnol, the player can earn up to 99 points[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/197338-final-fantasy-ix/faqs/41181 Final Fantasy IX Excalibur II Perfect Game Guide by Atomos199], although the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania mistakenly gave 100 as the maximum score. Zaghnol is found in the Business District's Fountain Square, where the shops are, but it won't appear until there is less than four and a half minutes left on the clock. For other participants, the leader's point total increases by 5 to 15 at random intervals (about once a minute). If Zidane is the high-scorer, then at the next random interval the point leader will take Zidane's score and add 5 to 15 points to it. The game keeps a single point value for non-Zidane participants, and the identity of Zidane's high scoring rival is determined by the time remaining and RNG. When on the screen with the Zaghnol when the Zaghnol is present (entering the screen with 4:30 or less on the clock), Zidane's rival (who can only be Freya at this point) cannot gain score. They can still gain score if the player returns to other screens. During the battle with Zaghnol, they cannot gain score. After the Zaghnol is defeated, if Zidane lands the killing blow the points are added to his score. If Freya lands the killing blow the points are added to her score. If Freya is KOd in the battle when Zidane kills the Zaghnol, or when the timer runs out, the new high-scoring rival will be Vivi whose new points will be FreyaPoints - / 10 . Following the Zaghnol battle, the high-scoring rival cannot earn any more points, while Zidane still can. Zidane's highest theoretical score is 303, although this is almost impossible in a normal game. Freya's highest theoretical possible score is higher than this, for if Zidane has 204, she can gain +15 every minute after this, and then get the +99 for defeating the Zaghnol. Since we're talking of impossibilities, if Zidane defeated every enemy with maximum points before the rival's points are ever rolled, and Freya felled Zaghnol after the final roll, her theoretical maximum would be 483. Vivi's theoretical maximum would be 346. Given the Freya win, Belna's theoretical maximum (revealed in a letter) would be 322. Prizes Each participant chooses their prize. Although the player must play as Zidane, no matter the winner the party will still benefit: * Zidane gil: 5000 Gil * Freya Add-on: Coral Ring * Vivi Tetra Master card: Theater Ship card Although the player can only control Zidane, and briefly Freya, it is possible to control who wins the festival. *For a guaranteed Vivi win, Freya must be defeated by Zaghnol and Zidane must be defeated (either by Zaghnol or another enemy following the fight). *Vivi can also win if Freya is KOd when the battle with the Zaghnol ends (time runs out or Zidane defeats it), and Vivi's new calculated score is higher than Zidane's. Zidane can still retake the lead in additional battles; Vivi's score will not increase again after slaying the Zaghnol. *For a guaranteed Freya win, Zidane can be defeated any time prior to Zaghnol battle. To obtain Zaghnol's steals and guarantee a Freya win, Freya must be alive and Zidane must be KOd when the battle with the Zaghnol ends (time runs out or Freya defeats it). In some versions of the game Zidane must be KO'd for Freya to slay Zaghnol, otherwise it will not fall regardless of how much HP it should have left. *Freya is also guaranteed to win if Zidane just lets the time run down, or does not re-take the lead after she gets her final set of points. Freya can still win if Zidane defeats the Zaghnol, as long as Zidane does not overtake her in points then or in the following battles (Freya's points gain will freeze following the battle). *The easiest way to win with Zidane is to take out enemies and then have Zidane defeat the Zaghnol as early as possible. The chances of winning increase if Freya is KOd when the Zaghnol is defeated (as new rival Vivi's points will be less than Freya's). *The easiest way to win with Zidane without taking out the Zaghnol is to take the lead near the Zaghnol area around the 4:30 mark (defeating one of the nearby Fangs should be enough), and then entering the area with the Zaghnol. If the score did not re-roll after taking the lead then while in the area Zidane will not lose the lead. The player can encounter the Zaghnol and will win as long as Zidane is not KOd when the timer runs out. *To win without even entering the area with the Zaghnol, Zidane just needs to kill the final enemy as close to 0:00 as possible, and earn enough points from that enemy to regain the lead. Since the opponent's lead can only increase by 15 at most each roll, as long as the opponent hasn't made a significant lead this should be enough. The best route is to defeat the three enemies in the Theater District (besides the Trick Sparrow at the station), and the ones in the Business District (besides the Trick Sparrow by the church). *Zidane can technically win by engaging the Zaghnol with 0 points (with increased chances if Freya is KOd when the Zaghnol is defeated), however it is far from guaranteed. If the Zaghnol is defeated with enough time to spare, additional points can be gained from defeating additional enemies. A better strategy might be to go to the Business District and kill each of the three Fangs when 20 or so points behind the lead, and then go to defeat the Zaghnol at 4:30. There are no ties, the game treats the person who got to that score first as the winner (which can only be the opponent). Other than the above prizes, the outcome of the Festival of the Hunt affects a few scenes. If the winner gets over a 100 points, a letter will be sent to Mogmi in Gizamaluke's Grotto in endgame, giving the winner and their score (Belna's score will be listed as 2/3 of that score). In the versions with an achievements system, having Vivi secure the victory earns the achievement/trophy A-Hunting We Will Go. Musical themes The aptly named "Festival of the Hunt" is the musical theme that plays throughout the event, whether the player is running around the city or fighting a monster. The track is available as part of a downloadable Final Fantasy IX package in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Gallery Lindblum1-ffix-battlebg.png|A battle background in Lindblum. Lindblum2-ffix-battlebg.png|A battle background in Lindblum. Lindblum3-ffix-battlebg.png|A battle background in Lindblum. LindblumEvent3.png|Cage where monsters are brought into the festival. LindblumEvent4.png|Monsters are released from the cages and they enter across the bridge to town. Lindblum Festival of the Hunt Scene FF9 Art 3.jpg|Concept art of Zaghnol's cage. Lindblum Festival of the Hunt Scene FF9 Art 2.jpg|Concept at of the gate and bridge. Lindblum Festival of the Hunt Scene FF9 Art1.jpg|Concept art of the Festival of Hunt scene. FFIX Electrocute.png|Zidane and Freya take on Zaghnol. Etymology and origin The Festival of The Hunt's name may derive from the name of an Ancient Greek hunting festival in honor of the goddess Artemis, Greek goddess of the hunt, moon, and newborn creatures. The Festival of the Hunt may have been inspired by the Running of the Bulls practiced mainly in Spain and Portugal, which involves letting loose a dozen or so bulls on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets, and participants have to run in front of them. Unlike bullfights, which are performed by professionals, in the Running of the Bulls anyone may participate. Trivia * "Festival of the Hunt" is a quiz answer on an Academia quiz terminal in Final Fantasy XIII-2. References de:Jagdfestival Category:Events in Final Fantasy IX